


Open the Unclosable Door

by stellacanta



Series: The Feeling When Your Heart's Been Torn Out [2]
Category: Octopath Traveler (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Terrorism, Mecha
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-03-26
Packaged: 2019-12-07 05:21:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18230465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellacanta/pseuds/stellacanta
Summary: There was a door that Cyrus was told never to go beyond, but he did anyway. His mecha was behind that door, he could hear him (Scholar, his mecha’s name was Scholar) whisper to him from behind that door.All the times he went beyond that door, he had never met another living person. He had thought that he wouldn’t ever get caught, until he was.





	1. Chapter 1

Cyrus stopped in front of the pods that held their mechas. There was a mysterious blonde man in front of the pods. More specifically, he was in front of the pod that held Charity, Alfyn’s mecha. The man had his hand pressed up against the cool surface of the pod and seemed to be mouthing something to it, his eyes closed.

He gave the man an uncertain look, it was awfully strange that he had been here so long without seeing anyone and suddenly a stranger would appear here out of nowhere, and walked to the pod that held his own mecha which happened to be next to Alfyn’s. The man spoke when he came to a stop in front of his mecha’s pod. “Cyrus was it?” The blonde man opened his eyes and turned to stare directly at him. “It’s funny what you hear when you pay attention to the rumors.”

Cyrus was taken aback. Rumors? He had never seen this man before in his life, where would the stranger have heard rumors to his own identity? The man spoke before he could open his mouth to ask his name. “They talk about you, you know? They say such interesting things as well.” The man looked towards Charity’s pod and smiled before he pushed himself away from it. He couldn’t help but notice how the man’s fingers lingered on the cool surface before they were removed from its surface, as gentle as a lover’s hesitant departure. He shuddered at the sight. “But enough about you, you must be curious about me right?” The man walked towards him and held out a hand for him to shake. “My name is Michael Nazario, but please, call me Mike.”

Michael Nazario. The name sent a chill down Cyrus’ spine. He had heard that name before, it was that name of an infamous terrorist who had bombed no less than four separate middle schools and gone on a shooting spree through one of the small liberal arts colleges in New York. (That wasn’t what had lead him to be imprisoned though. What had lead him to be imprisoned was a bomb threat on a major government office and a co-conspirator turning him in before the damage could be done.)

Cyrus’ hands shook as he took Michael’s hand and shook it once before hastily shoving it into his pocket. He had thought the man to be behind bars, but clearly he wasn't. “What- what brings you here, Mike?”

“Hmm? What brings me here?” Michael laughed as if it was the funniest joke he had heard in ages, and Cyrus could only grin weakly back. “Oh, why for the same reason why you’re here, I assume. I’m a pilot just like you.” Cyrus froze. A pilot? This terrorist was a pilot just like him? Michael looked fondly at the pods besides them. “I wanted to see my mecha in the bay, but I came across these lovely beings instead, and they have such wonderful things to say you know?”

Wonderful- this man, this monster, he could talk to the mechas? Cyrus stared at Michael in horror as the man looked back at him with something dangerous in his eyes. “Scholar is your mecha yes? He has nothing but wonderful things to say about you, and Charity was practically  _ fawning _ over his pilot. Oh, I do look forward to meeting young Alfyn soon.” Michael nodded once at him before walking towards the door. “Good day.”

It must not have been a half dozen steps before he heard the footsteps stop. “You know,” Michael turned to face him one last time, his smile razor sharp and as deadly as a shark’s. “You really shouldn’t be here. The mechas need time to develop before they’re ready for the field and having their pilots around … messes with their development process shall we say.” He turned around. “But I won’t tell my sister if you won’t tell.” The threat disguised as an offer lingered in the air as the man walked out of the room, the door slamming behind him with a loud thud.

Cyrus collapsed in front of the pod that held Scholar. “What-” He opened his mouth to try to form words but found he couldn’t. He was shaking and he could only place his hands on Scholar’s pod in hopes his mecha would understand.

“ _ I’m sorry Cyrus _ ,” his mecha’s voice whispered into his mind. “ _ We did not know. Father is father and we delight in his presence _ .”

He found his voice then, incredulity bleeding through his tone. “Father? That man is a-”

“ _ -yes, he is father. Not our father, but a father to us and to the ones who have not yet hatched. We sensed mother’s presence when we arrived and thought ourselves blessed. But when we sensed father’s presence we sang with joy. To be truly blessed with the company of both mother and father is the highest honor.”  _ There was a pause. “ _ You must forgive him, Cyrus. Father does not remember, and father is- angry. Mother warned us as much when we found out about father’s presence and asked her about it. _ ”

“I- I don’t know if I can-” He swallowed and closed his eyes, resting his forehead against the cool surface of the pod. There was silence as the two simply rested in each other’s company, taking strength in the presence of the other.

“ _ Cyrus, you must leave now, I sense someone approaching _ .” 

Cyrus nodded and rose shakily to his feet.

“ _ Oh and Cyrus? Be vigilant. I sense forces a play here, and not all of them are friendly. _ ”

Cyrus looked at the pod containing his mecha one last time. “Thank you, my friend, I will take your words to heart.” 

The door to the room closed softly behind him when he left.


	2. Interlude: You Don't Remember

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michiko hated it when the man in front of her called her ‘dearest sister’. It wasn’t because it was untrue, no, it was because the man in front of her no longer remembered their shared past.  
> And of course the man would take every opportunity to use that phrase like a dagger against her heart, even when he was reporting on something she had sent him to take a look at.

Lionel is right besides her when the hasty series of knocks against the door sounded. It was the only warning she was given before the door handle turned and someone entered. Lionel placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it lightly, seemingly knowing who it would be before she did. Michiko placed her own hand on top of his, thankful for the reassurance when Mike Nazario entered the room. 

She did not miss the grimace on Mike’s face when he took their positions into account, Lionel in a chair close to hers and the two of them bent over the monitor, faces fairly close together. Lionel’s hand on her shoulder and her hand atop his. “Oh? Now don’t  _ you two _ look cuddly over there, dearest sister and dearest sister’s assistant.” She took in a few deep breaths before she raised her head to meet his. Honestly? This, the close proximity between her and Lionel, was payback for that. How she tired of the man calling her “dearest sister” when he did not remember a thing about them.

“Oh,” she replied, keeping her voce light and unaffected. “So you remember now? How about you address me by your favorite nickname then,  _ dearest brother _ .” Mike’s gaze flickered towards Lionel at her side, but Lionel’s blank expression did not change. He simply squeezed her shoulder a bit harder.

The man sighed and shrugged his shoulder. “Alas, I can only call you Michi for now and assume I am close.”

Michiko gave him a bitter smile before she turned back to the monitor and began to type up some notes in a new window for the various reports she had pulled up on her screen. “Mmm, not close enough I’m afraid.” It was bittersweet seeing Mike like this, his face so similar to the brother she had once adored (even if hers no longer resembled her own). They had once teasingly referred to each other as ‘dearest sister’ and ‘dearest brother’, the teasing terms born out of an abundance of affection for each other, and it was a shame to see those words turned into what they had become. A dig against her cherished memories, instead of words of love and reassurance. “So, did you find anything suspicious by the pods then?”

“As a matter of fact I did.” She stopped typing to wait for Mike to clarify, but began typing again when it seemed like the man was just pausing for dramatic effect. “You must really tighten security around the mecha pods you know, too easy for people to get in there.” He only got a grunt in response and he scowled at her apparent disinterest. “Charity told me something interesting when I stopped by his pod?”

“Oh? And what would that be?”

“Did you know that Charity had a brother?” 

The typing stopped, but continued a moment later. “Hmm, interesting trivia. I had not considered it but now that you mention it-”

“-Charity was  _ awfully _ chatty today, nonetheless. Perhaps you should check the camera feed, dear sister? I don’t think he would have gotten excited just from  _ my _ visit.” He trailed off with a smirk before he left the room. 

Michiko pulled up the camera feeds for the room as soon as she heard the door click shut. “Lionel, I sent Mike down there at around 3 this afternoon right?” She did not even wait for the affirmative murmur from the man besides her as she scrolled through the camera feeds for the past few minutes before her brother was there. There was a soft gasp when she found what she was looking for. A man stood in plain view of the camera, his hand pressed against the surface of Charity’s pod. It was hard to make out from the angle of the camera, but in the reflection of that glassy surface, she thought she could make out something pressing back from the other side. 

Michiko’s eyes roamed over the pale skin and hair of the figure and she grimaced. “It’s a shame that they sent over Mike rather than Aleksandr,” she remarked to Lionel. “At the same time, it’s a great blessing that our dear Aleksandr  _ wasn’t _ sent over.”


End file.
